After years of hype, production delays, and curiosity, HBO’s Westworld is slated to debut on Sunday, Oct. 2 with a star-studded cast as well as one confusing and mind-bending storyline.
Westworld is a science fiction thriller based on a 1973 film of the same name and book by Michael Crichton. The show is headlined by an incredible cast that includes Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, and more.
While the cast is fantastic in its own right, the producers and writers of the show are equally as impressive. Jonathan Nolan, brother of Chris (director of Interstellar, Inception, and The Dark Knight), is an executive producer and director of the pilot. Lisa Joy is also one of the main developers and EPs while J.J. Abrams joins Joy and Nolan as an executive producer.
The show had a long journey to its October 2nd debut. Way back in August of 2013, HBO ordered a pilot for the show. A little over a year later in November of 2014, HBO announced Westworld would debut in 2015.
That teaser was the first sign of a release date, but that release date was never met when the show ran into production delays. Those delays were revealed in August 2015 when the first real teaser was released and it stated the show wouldn’t premiere until 2016.
After barely any news came out as to why Westworld would debut in 2016 instead of 2015, Variety published an exclusive report in January 2016 detailing why the show hadn’t premiered yet.
“The ambitious project, which doesn’t have an official premiere date, was shuttered for two months so executive producers Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy can catch up on the final four scripts. Sources say the California-based production, which was originally scheduled to wrap in November, is now set to resume in March.” – Variety
After months of uncertainty, the first real trailer dropped and an October released date was announced.
So why is this such a big deal? Why is a show that got delayed so much and won’t premiere until over a year after the original premiere date receiving so much hype?
Well, there’s a couple reasons, so let’s examine them one-by-one.
1. It’s on HBO: HBO is known for producing top-notch television from The Wire to The Sopranos to Game of Thrones. While the network has also had its duds in Vinyl, Hello Ladies, and John from Cincinnati, it’s more well known for its successes than failures.
HBO also has money and lots of it. Heck, the network was willing to let the writers continue to delay the premiere after landing an incredible cast and the network promoting the show for a 2015 release. With HBO’s money, Westworld could also become the network’s next big thing.
2. It’s lined up to big HBO’s next massive hit: Thrones owns the network right now. It’s the biggest show in HBO’s history, but only has two more seasons left. As a result, many people have wondered what would take its place on top of HBO’s mantle.
Westworld is going to take its spot, that’s what. There’s a couple reasons why: the cast, the storyline, and the timing. The cast has already been discussed and we’ll get to the storyline later, but let’s focus on the timing.
With two seasons left for Thrones, Westworld is in a perfect spot to build up an audience for a little bit before taking over completely. If HBO relied on Westworld to take over the top spot without Thrones currently on the air at all (meaning it was 100% done), it would be tough. The reason why is Westworld would be relied on even more to succeed. However, because Westworld has two years to gain some traction, HBO can give it some breathing room.
HBO hasn’t announced if Westworld will always air in the fall, but as of now it’s perfect timing. By not airing at the same time as Thrones, Westworld gives HBO more publicity for a big show throughout the year instead of just in the summer when three of its biggest shows in Thrones, VEEP, and Silicon Valley currently air.
3. It’s already lined up its future: Part of what makes Thrones so successful is a lot of the fans have known what was coming because of the books. Additionally, the writers have known where they were going for a while, which has given them direction.
While Westworld the show will be different than the movie and book it’s loosely based on, its writers know exactly where it’s going more so than with other shows. How do we know that? Well when the show went into production delays in early 2016, it wasn’t only because the producers weren’t done with season one. It was also because they were busy working on the next four seasons.
That’s right, Westworld‘s writers have already written the basic outline for the next four seasons after this one.
“It wasn’t about getting the first 10 [episodes] done, it was about mapping out what the next 5 or 6 years are going to be,” actor James Marsden said. “We wanted everything in line so that when the very last episode airs and we have our show finale, five or seven years down the line, we knew how it was going to end the first season – that’s the way Jonah and [executive producer J.J. Abrams] operate.”
That’s pretty impressive to already know where you’re going and to rely on your actors to not give up any secrets. On top of that, it gives HBO security because they know where the show is going too and can plan accordingly.
4. The storyline: Here is what HBO’s description of Westworld is about…
“The one-hour drama series Westworld is a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin. Set at the intersection of the near future and the reimagined past, it explores a world in which every human appetite, no matter how noble or depraved, can be indulged.” – HBO
This storyline is pretty evident in some of the more recent trailers such as this one where a young kid says to Evan Rachel Wood (Dolores) “You’re one of them aren’t you? You’re not real.”
That trailer is one of the longer ones HBO has released ahead of the series premiere and it’s packed with a lot of juicy storyline hints.
Whether it’s the zoom out to a Hunger Games-style game board world or Ed Harris murdering Thandie Newton’s character at 1:15, the trailer is full of confusing twists.
It’s easy to tell through the trailers that this will be a mind-bending type of show. Then again, that’s not too surprising as executive producer Jonathan Nolan works a lot with his brother Chris, co-writing The Prestige, The Dark Knight Rises, and Interstellar.
Overall, Westworld looks like one heck of a show. It has an incredible cast, great writers and producers, and a very odd but intriguing storyline. Let’s just hope it lives up to the hype and can be what HBO wants it to be, the successor on its mantle to Game of Thrones.
